Pre-Buddhist India: A Political, Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey of Ancient India Based Mainly on the Jataka Stories c6.s2.54

c6.s2.54

COURSES OF STUDY. The three *Vedas* and the eighteen *sippas* or arts² are repeatedly spoken of as the subjects taught at Takkasilā. The invariable mention of the three *Vedas* shows that the *Atharvaveda* was not included in the curriculum. The *Vedas* were of course learnt by heart. We do not know of what did the 18 *sippas* consist. We have however mention of the following individual arts and sciences: elephant lore (*hatthisutta*),³ magic charms (*mante*),⁴ spell for bringing back the dead to life (*matakutthāpanamantam*),⁵ hunting (*luddaka-kamma*),⁶ spell for understanding all animals’ cries (*sabbarāvajānanamantam*),⁷ archery (*issāpasippa: dhanuvidyā*),⁸ the art of prognostication (*aṅgavijjā*),⁹ charm for commanding all things of sense (*ālambanamantam*),¹⁰ divining from the signs of the body,¹¹ and medicine (*tikicchā*).¹²